


Baby steps

by laturprofarkalesari



Category: Cyborg 009
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-20
Updated: 2018-10-20
Packaged: 2019-08-04 23:46:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16356599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laturprofarkalesari/pseuds/laturprofarkalesari
Summary: The company of people of one's own age isn't always the most fitting.





	Baby steps

The doors of the school were finally opened, signaling to all the people around that it was almost time. Françoise had already gotten a hint of that a couple of minutes before that, when she had picked up the voices of the teachers telling the children inside the building to start taking their things, and queue in front of the door of their classroom.

The lively horde of small children started to pour out of the building, running through the courtyard to reach a familiar face. Meanwhile a small group of adults, including Françoise herself, pushing a baby carriage, began to calmly walk the other way around, and headed into the school, following the group.

On the doorstep of the room the group had reached, a smiling woman greeted them speaking softly; Françoise returned the greeting in the same hushed voice, and left the baby carriage out of the room, next to another couple. She walked in, paying attention not to step on any of the plastic carpets laid on the floor for the babies, and gave a look around to see a small group of children playing and crawling around on the other side of the room.

"Welcome, miss Arnoul." A young man said almost under his breath, walking close to her. "You're here for Ivan, right?"

"Yes." She nodded. With the corner of her eyes she glanced to her side, to a door that gave on another room lit by a single small soft light. Inside it some cradles were lined in a few rows.

"He's asleep. Please follow me." He whispered before turning around and heading to the other room, taking small and quiet steps. Françoise followed suit, trying to make as little noise as possible.

Once inside she gave a look around at some of the other children, sleeping in their cribs or just lying there and calmly sucking on their pacifier. The man stopped and pointed at the one where Ivan was resting. She stepped closer, gave him a look and carefully picked him up.

Following the man, Françoise walked back into the main room, carrying Ivan in her arms and gently cuddling him. Once they were far enough from the other room she started talking: "How did he behave?"

"Pretty well. He was noisy, sure, but that's normal at his age." The man said, jokingly. "But he didn't give us any sort of problem, and drank his milk without complaining."

"I see, that's good." She answered, caressing him on his head. "And how was he with the other kids?"

"He preferred to stay on his own and play around with the toys. Especially the illustrated books, he seems to like those. For a moment it looked like he was actually reading through them." The man explained.

Françoise chuckled. "He's the little intellectual of the family, alright." She replied, turning her sight on Ivan.

"He's had his change of diaper after lunch, and after that he fell asleep. He didn't wake up at all since then, not even when one of the babies started crying and whining."

"I see." She replied. "You shouldn't worry about it, he's a heavy sleeper."

The man nodded. "Yes, my colleague told me you said so, but I wouldn't have imagined to this level. I was a bit surprised, I have to say." He explained. "Anyway, see you tomorrow morning."

"Alright, I won't hold you any further. See you next time, and have a nice evening." She replied, giving him a smile. After waiting for the man to walk next to another woman, Françoise turned around and walked out in the hall. She put Ivan back into his carriage and covered him carefully, then headed towards the main door, walking slowly.

It was only after about five minutes, when she was sure she had left the place behind and that none of the other parents and children were around, that she dropped the act and started speaking directly to Ivan. "You can stop that, I know you're awake." She said. "I can understand it by your breathing."

In his carriage, Ivan opened his eyes and looked at her. _'Are you really going to take me back there tomorrow?'_

Françoise couldn't help a small laugh. "Are you scared?"

 _'Those children shouted, and pulled my hair and never left me alone. One even tried to bite me! I don't want to go back there!'_ Ivan replied, widening his eyes as he projected that thought into her mind.

"That's what children do, you know..." She calmly replied, as she decided look around for a place to sit down. Despite her teasing Ivan seemed genuinely upset, and she needed to sit down and calm him.

 _'I never did something like that! I'm sure of it!'_ Ivan kept on protesting while Françoise finally reached a nearby bench and sat down on it. She pulled him out of the carriage and held him close to his chest, while the child still looked almost in shock, his eyes wide open.

"You definitely did act like that, before you could remember." She said, speaking softly and cradling him.

Ivan turned his head to look at her, and slowly started to relax into the hug. _'Still, I don't want to go back at that place, or among other toddlers, that's final. I want to stay at the laboratory with you and Gilmore, even if it's boring.'_

"The teacher said you were pretty noisy, too."

_'When I needed to get changed, of course, I couldn't just tell them what I needed. Besides, I had to blend in.'_

"And didn't you find it fun?"

_'At all. It was exhausting, I don't think I can keep it up another day.'_

"Exhausting?"

 _'You try shouting and running all over the place for a whole morning while a group of kids are doing the same around you.'_ Ivan replied, putting an almost severe look on his face.

Françoise rocked him. "I see. Are you feeling sleepy?"

 _'Not really, I just need some silence and quiet.'_ He answered. _'Where do those children manage to find the energy to do that all the time?'_

She chuckled. "Don't ask me, it's been a while."

Ivan didn't reply, and just leaned against Françoise's chest in complete silence, while she gently swayed him.

"Is it better now?" She asked with a whisper after some time.

He nodded, his eyes closed. _'I'm alright now. It's such a relief.'_

Françoise smiled, and moved his hair away from his face. "Just so you know, we sent you there thinking it would have helped you take your mind off our problems."

Ivan opened his eyes. _'I know. I wondered why you had decided all of a sudden to send me to a place like that, so I took the liberty of finding out more.'_

She raised an eyebrow. "Really? And you were fine with it?"

_'I thought of complaining about it, of course. But I was also curious to see what it would have been like, being among kids, so I decided to keep it for myself and see what was going to happen.'_

"See what was going to happen, huh..." She repeated, visibly amused.

_'Like I said, it's kind of boring back home. You and Gilmore are busy all the time, I've already read all books there are at home and there's never anything good on television.'_

"That's true as well..." She replied, letting out a sigh. "Anyway, looks like you already recovered from your little moment of crisis." She then added, failing to hide her amusement.

 _'Yes, I'm feeling a lot more clear-headed now.'_ Ivan answered. Françoise smiled and leaned back against the bench, gently cradling the child as he closed his eyes again and enjoyed the moment.

They were sitting in silence when, all of a sudden, they heard a high pitched noise. They both turned their attention in the direction where it came from, and saw the figure of a baby holding a pacifier in one hand and a rattler in the other. The child looked no more than a couple of years old and stood next to the bench, staring at them.

"Hi..." Françoise said, tentatively waving one hand without moving her arms off Ivan. The unknown kid repeated the gesture more clumsily, and put his teether back in his mouth.

He then stepped closer, took Ivan's hand and shook it a couple of times, then let go of him and stepped back.

_'What was that for?'_

"He just wanted to say hi, his own way." She replied.

_'I was asking him.'_

"He wouldn't be able to reply, not even with his thoughts."

Ivan turned his head towards the other child, then frowned. In response, the other just smiled and walked closer again, and handed his toy to him.

After a few seconds of staring silently, Ivan reached out and took the rattle. He shook it a couple of times, letting out a giggle as it made noise, then handed it back. The other child smiled widely and nodded.

 _'There, it's what you wanted to see. Happy now?'_ Ivan then asked. He waited some time, but didn't receive an answer from either of them. He looked up at Françoise, but still didn't get a reply. He was about to ask her directly, when an woman reached their bench, walking quickly. She picked the other child up in her arms and said: "Sorry, I hope he didn't bother you..."

Françoise smiled. "No, at all. We were having a bit of fun with him." When she was done speaking, Ivan chuckled and with a hand reached out to the other kid.

"That's good. He can be a bit brash with other kids." The other woman replied. She then knelt down, so that her child and Ivan were at eye level, and added: "There, say goodbye to our new friend."

Ivan let out a small wail and flailed his arms around, and the other child reached out and patted him on the head a couple of times. Seeing that, the other woman immediately stood back up. "I'm really sorry, again."

"Oh, please don't worry about that, it's nothing. He didn't hurt him, so there's nothing to apologize about." Françoise said. In response, Ivan let out another giggle. "See?" She then added.

"I'm glad." The other woman replied, smiling. "Anyway, we really need to go now. But if you'll be back here tomorrow we might meet again, and maybe we can have a talk and make them play together again."

"I think we'll can, but I don't think I can make promises for the moment." Françoise replied, smiling widely. "Anyway, good afternoon to you too, and take care."

The woman then turned around and headed away. When the two were gone, Françoise couldn't help herself and let out a laugh.

 _'Stop it, it wasn't funny.'_ Ivan protested.

"I wasn't laughing about what he did, I was laughing because of your reaction." She replied after catching her breath. "You actually enjoyed playing with that rattle, didn't you?"

_'I didn't.'_

"You did, I could hear your heart beating a bit faster."

_'It was only because I was angry.'_

"I know you, you wouldn't get angry for something like that."

 _'You didn't warn me that that child or his mother were coming just because you wanted to see my reaction, didn't you?'_ Ivan asked back, shooting her a glare.

"I knew he was walking next to us, yes, but how was I supposed to know what they were going to do?"

 _'But you knew, right?'_ He replied. _'Anyway, if you want to come back here tomorrow and talk with that woman, I'm fine with that.'_

She shot him a surprised look. "I thought you didn't like being with other small children."

_'I know you enjoy this, don't try to lie. So if you want to come back here tomorrow I'm fine.'_

Those words created a doubt in her mind. After thinking about it for a few moments, she decided to reply: "You just read my mind, didn't you?"

 _'I didn't change argument because I didn't want to talk about it, alright?'_ He answered - a bit too hastily, Françoise though as she decided to drop the discussion. He was a bit touchy about it, and obviously he would have never admitted why out loud, so she could have saved the energy. As for herself, she hadn't meant to tease him and he knew it, and was sure he had already read her mind and found out her real intentions on his own, so this was over for her as well.

"Anyway, a pretty big group of people is coming here. Should we start going, or do you want to stay here and rest another while?" She then asked, after making sure he was done saying what he wanted.

_'Let's go, I'm starting to get hungry.'_

"Alright then." Françoise commented, putting him back in his carrier. "We'll talk about what to do tomorrow after dinner, alright?"

 _'Good idea.'_ He replied, curling up a bit as she covered him up with a blanket.


End file.
